In tomorrow's new comics, the God of Fear rises to wage war on the entire Marvel universe, Hellboy travels back to the 1970s, Batman faces two of the DC universe's heaviest hitters, and a classic John Constantine story returns.

First Issues

Marvel kicks off its latest big crossover event with Matt Fraction's Fear Itself, as the God of Fear shows up to wreak havoc and force Marvel's superheroes to face their worst nightmares. This week also sees the debut of the supporting book Fear Itself: Home Front, which goes back to Stamford, Connecticut to find a fear-stricken populace still struggling with the tragedy that started the Civil War. Away from the main event, Marvel's mixing a little mythology in with its crime-fighter with Herc, which follows Hercules as he declares war on all criminals, armed to the teeth with Ares' finest weapons.

DC doesn't have much by way of new releases, but they are putting out the First Wave Special, the latest book combining pulp heroes like Doc Savage with old-school takes on iconic DC heroes, such as the Bat Man.

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On the Vertigo side of things, DC's biggest first issue is actually a reprint of 2000's Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood, now going under the kinda awesomely clunky full title Vertigo Resurrected: Hellblazer - Bad Blood. Penned by original Hellblazer writer Jamie Delano, the four issue series follows a wizened John Constantine in the year 2025 as he has to decide whether to save the British monarchy.

Elsewhere, Mike Mignola begins the latest Hellboy miniseries with B.P.R.D.: The Dead Remembered, which goes back to 1976 to explore the teenager years of the pyrokinetic Liz Sherman. Image Comics is kicking off Green Wake, as Intrepids writer Kurtis J Wiebe explores grisly murders in a small town. And, for those who want to follow the continuing adventures of Seth Rogen's Green Hornet - well, it's possible someone might - can check out D.E.'s Green Hornet Aftermath, in which Britt and Kato fight everything from LA drug lords to Homeland Security.

Other Releases

There are some interesting annuals this week. Marvel kicks off its "Identity Wars" arc in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #38, in which Spidey, Deadpool, and Hulk are thrown into an alternate universe where Spider-Man is the richest and most beloved superhero in the world.

With James Robinson's Superman/Batman Annual #5, DC continues its "Reign of Doomsday" arc with Batman and Supergirl fighting Cyborg Superman and Doomsday on the Justice League satellite. There better be some good old-fashioned Batman badassery in this.

There's also the second and final issue of Dan Abnett's Infestation, the big crossover event linking up their Transformers, Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe, and Star Trek universes, complete with a zombie apocalypse thrown in for good measure.

Graphic Novels

DC collects last year's one-shots honoring their military characters like Sergeant Rock, the Losers, and the Haunted Tank in Our Army at War. For those who want still more Marvel Zombies ridiculousness, there's some Howard the Duck goodness in Marvel Zombies 5, while Marvel offers some choice classics from the 1960s and 1980s in X-Men: Fall Of Mutants.

There's also a bunch of movie tie-in books. Geoff Johns's Green Lantern: Secret Origin gets a reissue, complete with an introduction from Hal Jordan's movie alter ego Ryan Reynolds. And Marvel offers some choice reprints of Thor's favorite fighting buddies in Thor: Warriors Three Unleashed, just in time for their big screen debut.

As always, here's the list of everything being released to comic stores tomorrow, and you can find your nearest comic retailer here. Happy reading, everyone!